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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29210244">Comrades, even</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuckgoose/pseuds/fuckgoose'>fuckgoose</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Piece</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bittersweet, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Introspection, Marineford Spoilers, POV Second Person, i guess, idk how to tag really..., jinbe pov bayBEEE</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:13:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>611</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29210244</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuckgoose/pseuds/fuckgoose</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <i>
      <q>When he dies, you see him everywhere.</q>
    </i>
  </p>
</blockquote>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jinbei &amp; Monkey D. Luffy, Jinbei &amp; Portgas D. Ace</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Comrades, even</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>ummm i wrote this in a few hours because i was feeling some kinda way. kinda based on my own emoshuns but not entirely. also formatting on this goddamn site is a nightmare. no indents, huh?<br/>edit 2/5/2021 6:38<br/>just published this last night but i noticed some things that could flow better so i made some minor changes</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>           When he dies, you see him everywhere. The similar looking passerby you catch out of the corner of your eye, when you turn your head, through a curtain of seaweed, they’re all him.</p><p>           You don’t remember all the details. How tall he is seems to change, the shape of his eyes never seems to matter much. Maybe if you’d spent longer with him, it would.</p><p>           The thing is, you didn’t know him that well. Sure, you spent some days together in shackles. You were allies. Comrades, even. But you weren’t-<br/>
           But you weren’t his friend.</p><p>           It’s still so, so painful. It creeps up on you over time. At first, it is a numb, faint sort of ache. Why should you feel so affected? Do you even have the right to grieve?</p><p>           After that is when you start seeing him. At Fishman Island, where he shouldn't be, on ships that he never could. You see him in all the passing strangers with similarly colored hair, in every freckled face. You start doubting yourself because of a nearby laugh, a somewhat familiar hat. And that’s when it starts to hurt more.</p><p>           The pain is a private one. Tears that well up when you’re alone, sorrow that stabs you in the heart while your face remains blank. You have many people you could talk to, but you choose not to. It is easier to wait for the grief to pass.</p><p>           Pass, it does. Like the schools of salmon near your home under the sea, it dies after running its course, leaving behind the promise of new life where it does. It returns, of course, and it probably always will. But it is a better idea to focus on the growing parr, young, changing, full of potential. Strawhat Luffy certainly fits the description, you think.</p><p>           He, too, will return to the pirating world. Stronger than ever, you are sure. The pain will weather him, but you think- you know he will brush off the dust, polish himself until you can see your reflection. Maybe that’s why so many like him? The way he’s so easy to relate to? Maybe, if your life hadn’t been what it had, maybe if you were more resilient, able to bounce back-</p><p>           But you weren’t. And that is what it is, but it’s good to see someone who was, who would continue to be. Not that it would be fast, but nothing worthwhile ever is, is it?</p><p>           Between the two of you, you know who has the worse grief, and it is not the one with gills and blue skin. To even be able to empathize a little, though, to say, “I know it’s not the same, but I feel some of that too,” and have it be completely true… It’s something you appreciate. And it is just as well Luffy is the one with more to grieve, because you know you would not be able to handle it like him, to turn it into passion and ambition and a love for life.</p><p>           It would be better if this had never happened, but you are happy, at least, that some good will come from it. You’ve heard people say everything happens for a reason, but you’ve seen enough to know that’s not true. Things happen because they do, and if you get something out of it, all the better.</p><p>           So even though Ace is dead and Luffy is hurting and you still see ghosts from time to time, the sea brings tides of change and a wave of opportunity and you intend to ride those currents as far as they will take you and swim the rest of the way.</p>
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